Ok. Now it’s officially the start of the Halloween season. One of my favorite websites of all time, X-Entertainment, has begun its 2008 Halloween Countdown. Even though Matt is not nearly as prolific as he was in his glory days of the early 2000′s, the fact that the man started the “Hey, remember the toys we had in the 80′s?” retro shit looooong before there was a youtube or any VH1 specials demands your respect. He was writing X-Entertainment when blogs were still called “websites.” Yea. Truly scary. 

I digress, but the Halloween Countdown has for the last 5 years been one of my favorite parts of the Halloween season, and it’s become a new tradition in its own right. Thank god it’s back. Go and indulge in one man’s celebration of all that is special about the season.

The X-Entertainment Halloween Countdown!

Previous Countdowns:

Halloween Countdown 2003

Halloween Countdown 2004

Halloween Countdown 2005

Halloween Countdown 2006

Halloween Countdown 2007

Read that title again.

Very cool. Terrordrome is a classic (to most of us, anyway) 2D fighting game featuring the horror icons we grew up with. I can’t believe how fucking infinitely cool this sounds. It’s described as a “self producted [sic] game” and it is currently being developed by a team of clearly amazing, dedicated horror fans. You can head to the site now and download a demo for pc, and they promise the final version will be released “sometime in 2008.”  Sounds great to me.  Hail to the king, baby.

http://www.terrordrome-thegame.com/

It’s the last chance of the summer to catch the free movie series in Tompkins Square Park, and what better way to transition from summer events to fall (read: Halloween) events than a classic horror movie in the great outdoors.  

Run to Tompkins Square tonight and get your horror fix, and if necessary your smack fix as well.

http://filmsintompkins.com/

Everyone’s favorite metallers from Gothenburg Sweden, the Haunted (I mean At the Gates, COUGH), has a new album out.  Kill two birds with one stone:  new metal + Halloween metal.  I will leave it up to our intelligent readers to determine the connection between the Haunted and Halloween.

Aside from that, get your ass to their myspace page and listen to the new album in its entirety. Upon first listen, it’s a pretty solid cut, and as the Haunted are want to do, they start it off with a bang.  I recommend “Pieces” and “Crusher”.  Kickass track.

http://www.myspace.com/thehaunted

This looks/sounds like a good time.  I won’t be able to make it, but if I was in town I would most definitely be here.  Sponsored by Royal Flush magazine, a very cool alternative music/culture zine which attempts to bring the worlds of rock and roll and comic books together, this should be a good time with lots of interesting people.  Network by god!

The show is being held at Toy Tokyo‘s Showroom Gallery, on 7th St and 2nd Ave in the East Village, one of the Devil’s Demons’ favorite toy stores.  So go see some rock posters, buy some toys, and live a little.

Links:

• http://www.darkhorse.com/Press-Releases/1611/Vicious-Intent-Book-Signing-and-Poster-Exhibit-9-5-08
• http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/14-660/Vicious-Intent-The-Rock-N-Roll-Art-and-Exploitation-of-Stainboy-Reinel-HC

Holy fuck!  I don’t say “late to the game” because this band is late, but because I am. This band is amazing. They sound like classic Entombed armed with nailbats. Their first cd came out last year, and they’ve got a new one on the way soon. I’ll definitely be seeing these guys when they come around to NYC in October. Go listen now!

http://www.myspace.com/trapthem

OK, so I’m really going to throw you a curveball right here.  The band I am about to endorse is definitely not metal, but if you want to group a bunch of Halloweenish bands together, these guys must be included.

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It should come as no surprise that we love absinthe. As you may have heard, it has recently become legal in the US. Not the bullshit you were drinking last year that’s essentially sambuca with green food coloring, but real absinthe.  Luckily for you, me, and me, this means there’s bound to be a slew of Absinthe-themed bars opening up around town.  If you live outside of New York you’re probably fucked, but thankfully ’round these parts theme bars spread like herpes. Well we here at The Devil’s Demons are going to do our part to keep all of you abreast of where to score the sweet devil’s hooch, starting with the first joint in town, White Star.

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If there are two things Vincent and I enjoy, they are Halloween and Metal.  So it goes that right here and now am inventing a new sub genre of metal called Halloween Metal.  This will be the first of several posts about bands that bridge the gap between vanilla metal and horror metal.  Let me explain.

Lamb of God is metal as shit, but they don’t necessarily espouse thoughts of zombies crawling the earth or decapitation via chainsaw etc. 

On the other end of the spectrum lay bands like GWAR or Mayhem, who bring the blood and guts and costumes right on stage with them and make horror a part of their persona.  Good in their own right, but you need to be in the right frame of mind to listen to and enjoy that.

Then, you have the bands who through their imagery/logo/cover art/tone/overall sound atmosphere generate a dark and sinister image in your head.  You know, something not too sinister, but something that will make you smile and recall scenes from Army of Darkness or the feeling you had creeping around during Halloween as a kid, maybe riding around town stealing street signs or egging the mayor’s house.

At the same time, you want to punch the next person in the face who walks by.  It’s the best of both worlds!

I think this feeling is something one immediately associates themselves with, or thinks is absolutely insane.  I am of the former, and I hope you are too.

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Whilst recovering from the night that was Carcass on Sunday, I had an important decision to make.  Do I spend the entire day on the couch, mindlessly watching NFL football (nothing wrong with that whatsoever), or pick my ass up and go see Reggie and the Full Effect?

There were advantages and disadvantages to both decisions, but the most salient being the fact that this was supposedly their farewell tour, and I had to yet to catch them live.  

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